Front wheel bearing on a '01S

[Frodo]

Okay, I have finally found some time to dive into my front wheel bearing job. Haven't gotten too far...at this point, I have the wheel off, as well as the brake caliper and the rotor.

I'm a bit confused as to what's next. In that I have the SIR bearing/hub tool, I am inclined to do this without removing the wheel bearing carrier from the car. I have Wayne's 101 Projects book (which is a good book), but he just mentions that this can in fact be done on the car. It's not real clear to me just what needs to be disconnected prior to jumping into the bearing removal with the SIR.

At the stage I am at, what exactly has to be done before I start removing the bearing?

[kcpaz]

IMO, its worth removing the upright (spindle assembly) and have a shop press out the old bearings and press in the new ones. The downside to doing this is you have to get at least a front end wheel alignment, but if you haven't had one done in a while, it could likely benefit from an alignment anyway.

[Frodo]

Yeah, but (1) It hasn't been all that long since I had an alignment done---I would think it should still be good, and (2) the whole reason I got the SIR tool was to avoid having to remove the bearing carrier and go to a machine shop to hydraulically press out the bearing. If possible, I wanna do this whole operation in my garage.

I'm new to this, but I guess I need to narrow my focus. (It's a bit frustrating, but DIY write-ups seem to assume readers DON'T have the SIR tool---or that, if they do, they're already accomplished enough mechanics NOT to need a lot of guidance online...) Okay, what with having that tool in hand, here's my questions boiled down to the minimum:

1) Do I need to remove the 3 strut tower nuts at the top (inside the frunk)?
2) (Maybe related) Do I need a spring compressor (as suggested by one online DIY write-up)? If I remove the 3 above-mentioned nuts but not the one centered between them at the top, the spring remains compressed, right?
3) Do I need a ball joint separator? (If so, where's a reasonably priced, easily had, fairly universal one to be found?)

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

[insite]

do NOT pull the wheel carrier and do NOT loosen the strut top mount. you're over thinking things here. have you removed the 32mm nut inside the hub spindle? it's part 6 in the diagram below. if you have NOT removed this, put your wheel back on & lower the car to the ground. remove the wheel center cap & remove this 32mm nut. then jack up the car & remove the wheel again. after that, here is your procedure:

1. remove nut (6) and ABS stator (5)
2. pull hub (9) with SIR horseshoe attachment
3. remove bearing cover (7)
4. pull bearing with SIR puller
5. press in bearing with SIR puller
6. install bearing cover
7. press in hub with SIR puller
8. loose install ABS stator with NO nut
9. install brake caliper & wheel
10.lower car
11.install nut (6) with loctite; torque to 339 ft-lb.


have fun!

[Frodo]

That's it? No removing the end link, no loosening anything on the control arm, no disconnecting the tie rod? Don't get me wrong, that sounds good...but there's conflicting reports out there on how much disassembly is required. Following your recommendation, does the bottom of the strut not get in the way?

BTW, yes, I do have the 32 mm nut off.

And now a more elementary question I should have asked before (sorry). When I spin the hub, the bearing really doesn't feel/sound bad at all. In fact, to my untrained ear (and fingertips), it seems pretty good. Can bearings start to go, to the point they'll make an audible noise when driving (with top up, especially at relatively slow speeds, especially when turning, especially turning to the left) and yet still feel/sound pretty good once the wheel, caliper and rotor are off?

[insite]

trust me; i've done dozens of these. the SIR makes it easy.


EDIT: to answer your other question, you can't tell if a bearing is bad just by trying to wiggle the spindle. sometimes there is obvious play, but sometimes there is not.